Swindon Town coach backs Jojo Wollacott to retain spot as Ghana No.1 in Qatar

Swindon Town head coach Ben Garner believes Jojo Wollacott has garnered the requisite experience to be Ghana’s No.1 goalkeeper at the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar.

The 25-year-old, who plays for the League Two outfit, was between the sticks when the Black Stars ousted rivals Nigeria on the away goals rule to seal a qualification spot.

Wollacott’s heroics were crucial in the first leg which ended 0-0 in Kumasi and brought his A-game on in the return leg which was tied at 1-1.

“Brilliant for Jojo, wonderful achievement for a goalkeeper playing in League Two to be representing his country and now going to a World Cup is incredible, to be honest,” Garner said.

“Everyone here is absolutely delighted for him, it’ll be a wonderful experience to go and play in the World Cup.

“Hopefully, he can keep that shirt with Ghana and go and play in the World Cup.

“Any experience like that for any player can improve you. He’s a very level-headed guy, really driven and motivated and that experience will just make him better.

“Wonderful experience, but also an intimidating one, especially in the second leg, so going through that as a player is something that will help him in terms of his future career and his upcoming games for sure.

“I spoke to him briefly and he loved it, in terms of qualifying, the experience. Spoke to him about some of the other aspects of the game and what went on, but as I say, he’s a really level-headed guy, takes it all in his stride.

“He came back in yesterday for a quick check-up, he only arrived yesterday morning and he’ll be back in training with the group and we’ll have a proper catch-up today.

“He seems to be fine, we’ll see how he is this morning, but I don’t expect any issues with him so we’ll just double-check this morning, make sure he’s all okay and then team selection can go forward from there.”

Ghana face a daunting task at the tournament after drawing old foes Portugal on 24 November in their Group H opener.

Four days later, the 2010 World Cup quarter-finalists will face South Korea at the Education City Stadium in Ar-Rayyan.

Ghana’s final match will be against Uruguay on 2 December at the Al Janoub Stadium.